About Us

History of Kingdom Prep

Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School began because of an incredible opportunity gap for young men in the City of Milwaukee. There existed very few seats at area Lutheran high schools and a scarcity of seats at other high performing private and public high schools. For instance, Wisconsin Lutheran High School had a waiting list of several hundred students who would be turned away. Milwaukee Lutheran’s situation was similar. The numbers grew every year.

There were also growing concerns for the state of boys. Thousands of young men were not equipped to succeed in life. With the proper level of intentional support, resources, and Biblical training, however, these young men would be empowered to break the cycle of poverty and blaze new productive trails for future generations. Boys are men in training, and an intentional effort needed to be made to address the growing lack of commitment to strong roles of fatherhood, marriage, and Biblical masculinity today.

Our Mission

Building a brotherhood in Christ for lives of purpose.

Whole Child Focus

The Kingdom Prep experience deliberately nurtures the mind, body, and soul of each brother through a whole child approach. Activities that develop the unique talents and personalities of each young man include:

Daily chapel/worship services
Personalized talent development enrichment
Celebration of Christian Brotherhood: authentic student agency and peer leadership “What hurts my brother hurts me”
Outward bound type expeditions & fieldwork
Know Thyself counseling services
School uniforms or dress code (collars & khakis)
Athletics (basketball, football, wrestling, soccer, & track)

The Learning Community

The Kingdom Prep learning community finds its identity through a long history of established Lutheran traditions. Teachers, leaders, and student families seek an education that glorifies God in every aspect of scholarship.

Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School follows a historic precedence of 5 excellent WELS high schools currently operating in Southeastern Wisconsin:

Wisconsin Lutheran High School
Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School
Shoreland Lutheran High School
Lakeside Lutheran High School
Luther Prep High School

Our Vision

Where young men develop their God-given gifts to lead in the home, serve in the Church, engage in meaningful work, and transform the community.

Boys Adrift in School Today

Boys make up 2/3 of the students in special education in schools today. (E)
Boys are five times as likely to be classified with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. (E)
Boys are four times more likely to be referred to a school psychologist. (E)
Male students attending four year colleges and universities today are now significantly less likely than female peers to earn high honors or graduate. (F)
14% of black boys and 18% of Hispanic boys scored proficient or above in 4th grade (National Assessment of Educational Progress Assessment) compared to 42% of white boys and 21% of black and Hispanic girls. (F)

Within the Context of These Alarming Disparities, We Proposed a Solution:

Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School is a community that offers a Christ-centered education for young men seeking spiritual and academic development in an all boys secondary education experience.

We believed that God has called a generation of young men to lead the charge for transformation in our City. KPLHS’s vision is to be a place “Where young men develop their God-given gifts to lead in the home, serve in the church, engage in meaningful work, and transform the community.” The school’s core principles include an emphasis on faith, leadership, service, and experience. We exist to encourage the Brothers of Kingdom Prep to fully depend on the grace of Jesus Christ and the encouragement of one another. It is our desire to help them establish a culture of brotherhood in seeking to follow Christ’s direction and footsteps to: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” -Matthew 6:33

KPLHS began with an enrollment of 60 ninth grade “founders” for the 2018-19 school year. We added 60 freshmen in 2019-2020, and we plan to expand with the enrollment of an additional 60 students each school year, until all four high school grade levels are in place.

In Particular, Kingdom Prep’s Stated Goals Were to Help Young Men to Grow in Godly Wisdom and Embrace:

…a love for Jesus Christ and each other
…strong student voice & peer leadership
…fostering student accountability & agency
…servant-leadership
…counseling services – a student’s heart is just as important as his mind
…rigorous work ethic
…brotherhood & church
…variety of character forming experiences: outdoor expeditions, part-time employment, retreats, hands-on/problem-based collaboration, etc.
…authentic mentorships built into the schedule–providing/receiving
…Kingdom-first lifestyles, pursuing excellence in everything with respect for all paths of post-secondary achievement

We believed that our Kingdom First model prioritized the purpose of learning in high school, which recognizes the value and health toward several paths of excellence in the journey toward post-secondary achievement and economic independence—an approach that banks on the promises of God when we seek Him first in all that we do. If a young man decides that seeking the Kingdom of God means pursuing college, trade school, a social entrepreneurship, or something altogether different, GREAT! Whatever it means for each child to develop his gifts to pursue the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first, then that is the ultimate goal.

And we continue to write our story as we grow. Want to join us? There are many ways. Find a few of them here.

A – (Cynthia Harper of the University of Pennsylvania and Sara S. McLanahan of Princeton University cited in “Father Absence and Youth Incarceration.” Journal of Research on Adolescence 14 (September 2004): 369-397.)

B – https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/unmarried-childbearing.htm Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics

C – http://fathers.com/wp39/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/fatherlessInfographic.pdf National Center for Fathering

D – https://thefatherlessgeneration.wordpress.com/statistics/

E – National Center for Educational Statistics U.S. Department of Education: Real Boys: Rescuing our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood by William S. Pollack Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by D. Kindlon & M. Thompson

F – My Brother’s Keeper – White House Initiative

G – US Department of Justice – 2015

H – Employment & Training Institute, UWM https://www4.uwm.edu/eti/2013/BlackImprisonment.pdf

I – “2015 Births in the United States by Race and Marital Status” National Center for Health Statistics